PHOENIX—From ashes to ashes, thousands of veterans’ remains rest in cremation urns, locked away unclaimed in funeral homes for years, even decades.
Mark Wells, a veteran and the Arizona state coordinator for the Missing In America Project, has become all too familiar with these heartbreaking accounts.
He hears about veterans who lost contact with their families or lost their way, ending up alone when they passed.
In one case, a veteran’s ashes were found in a dumpster.
“There’s nobody to claim them. No family members. No one to come forward,” Wells said.
“Here in Arizona, we did have one person who was identified as a member of the Spanish-American War.”…